Charities turn to online auctions to boost donations
by Richard Ruelas - Apr. 7, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Lunch with the principal of Dobson Academy had attracted a respectable bid of $55. Then, in the closing hours of the auction, two people started placing dueling bids, raising the price to $75, then $80, then $100 and, finally, $110. Sold, to the person clicking the mouse.
The two bidders did not eye each other warily or hover over bid sheets. Instead, the two squared off online, with one of the contenders possibly unaware of the eleventh-hour bidding war.
Dobson Academy, a private school in Chandler, has joined a growing number of non-profits moving their fundraising auctions online.
The hope is that the longer bidding time, wider pool of potential bidders and lack of social pressures present at a live auction can boost prices.
“It’s a great source of frustration for fundraisers to know that 50 percent or 90 percent of their donor base isn’t in the room,” he said.
Besides the boost from people wanting to give to a certain charity, the company offers groups the chance to list items on an umbrella site, www.biddingforgood.com, where they can attract bidders who don’t know a thing about the charity but who want a particular item.
Carson said 25 percent of winning-bid revenue comes from biddingforgood.com members.
Charities can put up items they procure themselves or choose from big-ticket items provided by cMarket. Carson said some of the latter items, such as an afternoon in a fighter jet and cruises, can serve as window dressing to gin up excitement in the auction.
Those big-ticket items are sold on a consignment basis. It costs nothing to post them. And the charity pockets any cash above the minimum-bid amount.
For its trouble, cMarket takes 9 percent of the auction total, although Carson said the company is considering a new fee structure that would lower that percentage based on volume of sales.
